It didn't take Lance or Chelsea long to figure out what had happened when Chloe showed them the card, and the facts that were presented to them made their blood run cold, once he had gotten over the initial shock Lance knelt next to his girlfriend as she continued to sob whilst Chelsea had a look around.
"Chloe, I know you don't want to hear this but the only thing we can do for him now is call for an ambulance." Lance assured her, and Chloe briefly glanced up at her boyfriend revealing that her eyes were now bloodshot from crying. "Did your mom say when she was getting off shift?" Lance asked and once Chloe wiped a tear from her eye, she shook her head.
"She's a hospital receptionist, that's pretty much like asking how long a piece of string is." Chloe added before they heard dogs crying and looked up seeing Rex and Nala at the bottom of the stairs. "Keep the dogs out of the basement, beyond contaminating the crime scene, I'd rather not risk them cutting their paws on the broken glass."
"Got it." Lance nodded before standing up and helping his girlfriend up, however before he could take another step Chelsea motioned them over.
"Guys, I think I found something." Chelsea commented as she bent over near one of the broken glass cases. "Something left by your dad's opponent, unless your dad kept USB drives down here for no reason." Chelsea added as they walked over.
"My dad doesn't own a PC so no and I don't think he knows what a USB drive is either." Chloe responded as she shook her head before she heard the dogs walking into the room. "Lance?"
"On it, come on doggies, I'll get you some treats upstairs." Lance told the dogs and they followed them up the stairs to the basement, once the two girls were alone Chelsea turned to Chloe.
"We'll get your dad's soul back, don't worry Chloe." Chelsea assured her as she put a hand on her friend's shoulder and Chloe grinned. "And now that my juvenile record has been expunged, I can come with you guys and make sure those bastards pay."
"Thanks Chelsea." Chloe thanked her before taking a deep breath. "I think we'd better warn our friends and family who duel, just in case they get targeted as well."
"I'll see if I can skype my older siblings upstairs, they skyped me this morning to wish me a happy birthday, but they might be working by now." Chelsea added before Lance whistled to them from the top of the basement staircase.
"Dogs are fed, and I called the police and for an ambulance." Lance told them, and the girls nodded. "I told the operator that there had been a break in and your dad had been assaulted, figured it was easier than explaining what really happened."
"Guess that's our cue to leave." Chloe nodded before letting Chelsea go on ahead of her as the girls left the basement, as she stepped foot on the bottom step of the staircase Chloe glanced over her shoulder at her dad's unconscious form. "This is war."
"Huh?" Chelsea asked as she and Lance turned to her and Chloe glanced up at them.
"They couldn't get to us at Duel Academy despite sending god knows how many duelists to the island." Chloe explained as she turned to them. "So instead, they waited until my dad was alone and targeted him, we can't let them get away with this."
"Chloe, I get what you're saying but you're not in the best mental state." Chelsea pointed out as she turned to her roommate. "Are you sure about this?"
"I haven't been surer about anything since I asked dad to enroll me in Duel Academy." Chloe responded with a frown on her face as she folded her arms. "They want us to come to them, why else would they leave that USB Drive? I say we go to wherever they're hiding and take them out, once and for all."
"We'd better discuss this with the others." Lance nodded in agreement before checking the time on his iPhone. "They are likely fast asleep by now, so I say we save it until tomorrow morning."
"Did we have any training scheduled for tomorrow?" Chelsea asked as she scratched her head. "I've been more focused on my birthday than training, so I haven't been keeping track?"
"I think we've mostly been playing the training by ear so no, don't think so." Chloe responded as she shook her head. "Let's get out of the basement before emergency services arrive." Chloe added, and the other teens nodded before they left the basement.
*later at Domino City Hospital*
It was a typically busy night at Domino City Hospital and for Sandra that meant she had to point patients in the right direction for the ward they wanted.
"Chloe and her friends should be home by now." Sandra thought as she glanced up at the clock on the wall. "I hope she had a good time with her friends at least." Sandra thought before briefly glancing up at the TV on the wall, however she looked up again when she saw her home on the news and frowned. "Can someone turn up the TV please?"
"Sure." One of the nurses responded before turning the TV volume up to ten.
"News just in, there has been a break in at the Richardson game store in Domino City." The News Reporter stated ad Sandra's eyes widened. "Police found no signs of forced entry but the owner of the shop, Scott Richardson, 42, was found comatose in the basement by his young daughter Chloe who had just returned home from a friend's birthday party, more on this story as it develops."
"Oh my god!" Sandra thought before she promptly stood up and left her desk. "Cindy, can you tell the supervisor that a family emergency has come up?"
"Off course." The other receptionist nodded in understanding before Sandra left the hospital and headed straight to her car.
*later*
By the time Sandra returned home Scott had been loaded into the ambulance and Chloe was giving her account of what happened when she, Lance and Chelsea returned home from Metal Asylum, she parked the car in the side alley and rushed up to the yellow tape.
"Ma'am, you can't go in there." The police officer nearest Sandra told her as he approached her. "This is a crime scene."
"It's also my house and that's my daughter over there." Sandra responded, and Chloe looked up when she heard her mothers voice. "Please, just let me see her, it's the girl with the long dark brown hair." Sandra added, and the police officer looked over at Chloe.
"Your daughter's giving her statement to the police, as soon as she's finished, I'll let you through." The police officer responded, and Sandra let out a deep breath, fortunately for her the police officer finished taking Chloe's statement a few minutes later and the other officer held the police tape up for Sandra to pass under.
"Chloe!" Sandra called out to her daughter and Chloe looked up seeing her mother running over to her, as soon as Sandra was close enough, she saw the bruise on Chloe's jaw which only made things worse. "Oh my god, did the burglar hurt you?"
"No, that happened at the club, I'll explain later." Chloe responded as she shook her head and Sandra breathed a sigh of relief. "When I got home dad was like that, and I have a feeling I know who did it."
"You do? Did you tell the police?" Sandra asked, and Chloe shook her head which caused Sandra's frown to deepen. "Why? If it's a friend, then the police need to know."
"If it was a friend, I would've told them." Chloe responded as she shook her head, after making sure that the cops weren't paying attention Chloe dug into her jeans pocket and produced the Orichalcos Card with her dad's face on it. "I found this next to dad's unconscious body." Chloe added before showing the card, once Sandra put two and two together her eyes widened.
"The Orichalcos." Sandra whispered as she stared at the card before giving it back to her daughter who returned it to the jeans pocket. "Chloe, I'm not going to pretend that I understand the game as much as you or your father, but I need you to tell me everything you know."
"We got home from the club at around 10:30 and immediately sensed that something was wrong, we confirmed that the dogs are unharmed but after I noticed that they weren't as energetic as they usually are, I suggested we split up to cover more ground." Chloe responded as she let out a deep sigh. "I checked the basement and that's when I found dad's body, and the card next to it." Chloe added before Chelsea walked over having just given her statement. "Chelsea found a USB drive among some broken glass, we're going to look at it after the police are done."
"Okay, I understand." Sandra responded before she noticed the police clearing up to take the evidence to the precinct. "Once we're allowed inside, I'll fix you up some hot chocolate, and I'll look at the CCTV footage to see if I can figure out what happened."
"Thanks mom." Chloe responded as she lowered her head. "As soon as we figure out where they are hiding, me and my friends are going after the Orichalcos, I will get dad's soul back."
"Are you listening to yourself?!" Sandra asked with a look of shock on her face. "I've already lost my husband, I don't want to lose you too Chloe!"
"Mom, if I stand on the sidelines then that just means that they'll send more agents after innocent people." Chloe added before showing Sandra her Legendary Dragon. "Besides, with this card I have a fighting chance at bringing them down for good, this won't be the last time I've dealt with them and the only way we can insure that this won't hurt anyone else is to take them down." Chloe added before returning the card to her pocket. "I've been ready for this since they started attacking Duel Academy island, I understand your concern but I'm not backing down from this."
"Okay, I don't like it, but I can tell I can't change your mind on this." Sandra added with a reluctant sigh as the police cleared up and she led the three teens back inside the house.
*the next morning*
News had started to spread about what had happened whilst the teens were at the club and once Chloe, Lance and Chelsea had woken up they found some familiar faces waiting for them in the dining room.
"We saw what happened on the news this morning." Brandon greeted them as the three teens entered the room. "How's your mom doing Chloe?"
"She was more concerned with the bruise on my jaw last night than anything else." Chloe explained as she took a seat opposite Brandon. "But once I explained what happened at the club, she became worried because I told her, in no uncertain terms, that I'm not letting the Orichalcos Duelists get away with it."
"So, it was the Orichalcos Duelists." Theresa responded with a frown and their worst fears were confirmed when Chloe placed her dad's Orichalcos Card in the middle of the table. "What do we know so far?"
"Shortly after we left for Chelsea's birthday party a robed person entered the shop." Lance chimed in as he leaned forward. "We know this due to the CCTV footage, they talked with Chloe's dad, she removed her hood, but the CCTV camera couldn't catch her face due to a bad angle, that said, thanks to the look on Scott's face we can at least tell that it wasn't pretty."
"The closest person I can think off that matches her identity is the robed woman who we saw on the island after the first couple of Orichalcos Duels." Chloe added before producing the picture of the young girl from her pocket. "The one who dropped this."
"Didn't your dad say that that girl died in a car crash?" Marcus asked, and Chloe nodded in response. "So, what's this woman's connection to that girl?"
"I don't know but I intend to find out." Chloe responded before nodding to Chelsea who started getting her laptop set up. "That brings us to the next point, among the mess the basement was left in Chelsea found a USB drive, my dad doesn't use a computer, so I doubt he even knows what a USB Drive is so we're running with the theory that the woman left it there for us to find."
"I didn't get a chance to look at it's contents last night because I had to give my statement to the police and by the time, we were done we were shattered so we headed straight to bed." Chelsea chimed in before positioning the laptop at the end of the table with, signing in and plugging in the USB. "I scanned it for viruses using the Anti-Virus Software on my Gaming PC before I went to bed, I can confirm that there aren't any."
"You sure about that?" Andreas asked skeptically, and Chelsea scoffed.
"You really think a tech nerd like me would cheap out on the Anti-Virus Software for a Gaming PC? Those things are expensive you know!" Chelsea responded before she loaded up the file contained on the USB Drive. "Just one thing on this whole file, a video entitled "declaration of war"." Chelsea added before turning to Chloe. "Looks like you weren't wrong when you said that this is war."
"Can you play it?" Chloe asked as she leaned forward as did the others, Chelsea nodded before loading the video in Windows Media Player and sat down as the video played depicting Victor in his office.
"If you are watching this, then Sarah was successful." Victor stated as he leaned forward on his deck. "My name is Victor Santiago, currently I am the CEO of Santiago Inc. and I have a net worth of over a million dollars, yet I am behind the resurrection of the Orichalcos." Victor added before he stood up and walked around the desk with his hands behind his back. "You brats have defeated every agent I have thrown at you and I tire of these games almost as much as you do, my company's headquarters are in Los Angeles, California and I am close to reaching my goal, unless you all come to California and come to my company headquarters within a week, I will send more agents after your families." Victor added before smirking. "Good luck."
"He expects seven teens to get enough money together to fly them all to California for a week on such short notice?!" Chelsea asked once the video ended and she walked over to the laptop. "Does he think we're made of money or something?!"
"I come from a rich family but not even my pocket change can cover all that." Brandon commented with a frown as he leaned back. "Plane tickets, hotel rooms, spending money because let's face it, we're going to want to get this done in a single day, Chelsea's covered thanks to her birthday money as am I and the Kaiba siblings…" Brandon trailed off before it hit him. "Kaiba? Tyler, didn't you say that your dad had a brief business partnership with Victor?"
"Yes, and to say that it ended on bad terms is like saying Chelsea has a bit of a temper issue." Tyler responded as he folded his arms. "He refuses to even talk about it."
"Well, whether he likes it or not, this is our best shot." Lance responded before motioning to Tyler. "You never know until you try Tyler."
"Give me a second." Tyler sighed before getting his iPhone out and calling his dad on facetime, when Seto answered the phone the teens saw him sitting in his office with Sophia behind him. "Father, we need your help."
"Wasn't the training I put you through enough?" Seto asked as he leaned forward. "Make this fast Tyler, I don't have all day."
"We know who's behind the Orichalcos resurgence, we know where he is and most importantly, he's given us an ultimatum." Tyler responded as he leaned forward. "It's a name from your past, Victor Santiago, he is…."
"This conversation is over." Seto interrupted Tyler at which point Chloe grabbed the phone out of Tyler's hands.
"Seto, please, just hear us out." Chloe pleaded as she glanced at Tyler's phone and Seto paused. "He's threatened to go after our families if we don't go to LA and take him and his goons out by next week."
"That's an empty threat, he's full of them." Seto scoffed and Chloe grabbed her dad's Orichalcos card and held it up to the screen.
"Does this look like an empty threat to you?!" Chloe demanded, and the other teens winced at her tone as Chloe took several deep breaths. "My dad's soul was taken by the Orichalcos last night, I found him in the basement and unless we do something, there's no telling who this bastard will go after next!" Chloe added before taking a massive breath. "It's the only way we can be sure that we can return to Duel Academy in September safe in the knowledge that the threat has been eliminated." Chloe added and Seto paused.
"Meet me and Sophia at Domino International at 2:00pm, by then I will have paid for travel, hotel and spending money, and yes that includes the pro-league duelists and any additional help you've picked up along the way." Seto responded and Chloe breathed a massive sigh of relief in response. "For all our sakes, don't screw this up." Seto added before hanging up and Chloe handed the iPhone back to Tyler whilst the others stared at her with the jaws hung open.
"Wow, you are definitely not the same Chloe I met when you first enrolled at Duel Academy." Theresa commented with a look of shock on her face and Brandon nodded in agreement. "It takes some massive balls to stand up to Kaiba like that, but it worked."
"It was either going to work or it was going to screw over my career as a Duelist, there was no other way around it." Chloe responded as she took a deep breath. "Sorry about that Tyler but I wasn't sure if you were going to get through to him."
"No need to apologize, you got results and that's what matters." Tyler responded before standing up. "Meaning we had better go home and pack."
"I'll call the Pro-Leaguers, Caitlin, Amelia, Louella, Latoya, Jason, Chakra, Hu and Ash to let them know what's happening." Theresa added as she stood up. "We need to be prepared for anything guys, otherwise? We'll just be victims of the Orichalcos."
"And once was enough, thank you very much." Andreas nodded in agreement before they all stood up. "Chloe, we will get your dad's soul back, I promise."
"I know we will." Chloe responded with a nod before the duelists left.
*meanwhile*
Whilst that was going on the pro-leaguers had met up at the hotel restaurant for breakfast and since the hotel restaurant didn't have a TV, they weren't aware of what had happened the night before.
"Man, oh man, I've still got a headache from Chelsea's birthday party last night." Ricardo groaned as he messaged for forehead. "Why couldn't you let me sleep in a bit?"
"Because the last time you slept in, you missed breakfast and lunch." Amanda pointed out with a smirk before she felt her iPhone going off. "I'd better go get that, it's probably Casey checking in on me or something." Amanda said before she stood up and left the restaurant and the hotel leaving the other duelists alone.
"If it makes you feel better, we'll stop by a pharmacy on the way to Chloe's house and grab some aspirin." Adrienne shrugged her shoulders after she checked out Amanda's rear end as the Canadian Woman left. "But frankly, after what happened last night, we all need to be on our toes in case the Orichalcos strikes again."
"And thanks to Chloe's bruise, I'm not sure if you mean in the physical sense or not." Phil responded with a shrug and Adrienne shook her head. "I'll take that as both."
"Right answer." Adrienne nodded before turning to others. "Anyone heard anything from Chloe since last night?"
"Nope, she's probably still nursing her jaw." Fran responded as she shook her head whilst Amanda returned to the group. "At least she has her parents to dote over her whilst she nurses it."
"Your half right Fran." Amanda responded, and the others turned to the redhead before realizing that she had a look of horror on her face. "That was Theresa, an Orichalcos Duelist attacked Chloe's dad whilst we were at the club last night."
"You're kidding?!" Mark asked as his jaw dropped and Amanda shook her head. "He's a retired pro-leaguer, isn't he? I bet he handed his opponent their ass on a platter."
"And that's the worst part." Amanda sighed, and the others shared a look. "Chloe's dad was defeated and he's in the hospital, the Orichalcos Duelist also left a message."
"What kind of message?" Katrina asked once the shock had worn off.
"They are waiting for us in LA, if they don't get there in a week, they are going to start taking more family member's souls." Amanda explained, and the duelists shared a look. "There is a silver lining, however, don't ask me how but they were able to persuade Kaiba to personally fund their trip and the plane leaves this afternoon, oh and we're going with them."
"Looks like we're checking out early then." Ricardo nodded in response as they all finished their breakfast. "Did Theresa say when they are leaving."
"Two o'clock." Amanda nodded in response before sighing. "I don't know about you guys, but I've lost my appetite, and I suggest we go pack now."
"That seems like our best plan." Dmitri nodded in response before the duelists stood up. "So, will you and Adrienne be helping each other pack? You've spent more time in each other's rooms than you have in your rooms."
"Very funny, not." Amanda responded as she rolled her eyes before they headed up to their rooms.
*later*
It was now time for the duelists to leave and most of them left via Tyler's limos, Sandra however insisted on driving her daughter to the airport and as a result Chloe was sitting in the passenger side seat as they pulled up to the airport.
"We're here Chloe." Sandra said breaking Chloe's train of thought as she looked up at her stepmom. "Before you go, I have something I want to tell you, I know you have a plane waiting for you, so I'll be as fast as possible."
"Sure mom." Chloe nodded before adjusting a bra strap. "What's up?"
"Chloe, when me and your father first adopted you, you were a scared little girl who had seen and experienced horrors that no one should ever see or experience, let alone a seven year old girl." Sandra stated, and Chloe nodded as she glanced toward her scared arm. "On that day, I promised myself that I would do everything I could to help you grow into a daughter that any mother would be proud off, I am pleased to say that you've surpassed every expectation I placed on you when I started home schooling you."
"Thanks mom." Chloe responded with a broad smile and Sandra gave her adoptive daughter a warm smile. "But I get the feeling there's more to this."
"I always knew you were smart." Sandra responded with a nod before frowning. "You know how dangerous the Orichalcos is, you've experienced it for yourself first hand, both at Battle City and, well, yesterday." Sandra added before placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Please, be careful in America, after all you've been through in your life no one deserves a happy ending more than you do and I don't want to see that squandered whilst I wasn't there to protect you."
"I will be mom, but I'm eighteen, I feel like I can look after myself." Chloe responded as she brushed some of her hair behind her ear. "I managed just fine doing that at Duel Academy."
"I said almost the exact same thing to my parents when they shipped me off to college." Sandra chuckled under her breath before unlocking the passenger side door. "And I'm going to say the same thing my mom said to me on that day, it doesn't matter if your eighteen or twenty five, your parents will always look out for your best interests, I'll still be there for you Chloe, no matter how well you can look after yourself." Sandra added before reaching over and hugging her daughter which Chloe returned. "When you come back from LA, I'll prepare a big welcome back feast for you and your friends."
"All the more reason for me to make it out alive." Chloe responded with a grin as Sandra broke the hug and Chloe undid her seatbelt. "I love you mom."
"I love you too dear." Sandra responded with a small smile before Chloe stepped out of the car to join the others, Sandra watched her daughter leave for the airport and Chloe glanced back one last time before entering the airport, Sandra said nothing else on her drive back home but the look on her daughter's face told her everything.
Chloe wasn't sure if she was going to return home in one piece, and that fact terrified her.
*inside the airport lounge*
It didn't take Chloe long to join up with the others and they met up in the airport lounge with Kaiba and Sophia alongside the pro-leaguers and their friends from Duel Academy, once Chloe sat down Kaiba scoffed.
"You had to talk me into funding this trip, yet you showed up a few minutes late?" Kaiba asked as he walked up to Chloe who shook her head.
"I had to say what could be my final goodbye to my mom." Chloe sighed as she shifted her weight. "As much as I'd love to say otherwise, there's no guarantee that we'll make it out alive."
"I appreciate that your being realistic about this." Kaiba nodded in understanding before taking a step back. "I won't be coming with you on this trip as I have to run the day to day operations at KaibaCorp's Domino Branch, however as Sophia's corporate headquarters is in America, she will accompany you the rest of the way." Kaiba explained as he motioned to Sophia. "The days ahead will be difficult and to that extent, I have pulled some strings and called in a few favors, you'll have some of the best duelists in the world mentoring you from the moment you touch down at Los Angeles International Airport and they will be waiting for you there."
"As I said on Tuesday, you have a lot riding on your shoulders." Sophia chimed in as she stepped forward. "But Theresa, Lance and Chloe have the Legendary Dragons, so if anything, you have the best weapons at your disposal for dealing with the threat, hopefully we can end the threat and return all the captured souls to their rightful owners."
"Flight 220 to Los Angelis is now boarding." The voice over the PA system rang out and the fourteen duelists shared looks before they stood up.
"Good luck, we are counting on all of you." Kaiba told them and the duelists nodded before they boarded the plane with Sophia.